Miners count the costs, but profits will stay, too

The Australia, 7/5/10

Ten years ago, mining companies were investing in Australian mineral resources because their business plans showed there were healthy profits to be made at the commodity prices of the time. Since then the price of zinc in US dollars has doubled, iron ore and nickel tripled, coal and gold quadrupled, and copper and lead quintupled. The Australian dollar is trading much higher than 10 years ago. Clearly, current investment plans will be showing considerably larger profit margins than a decade ago, even with the super profits tax. No, your Clive Palmers of this world are not going anywhere in a hurry. They are staying right here. It may even be logical to expect that most other commodity-exporting countries will follow our lead. – Bryan Hayes Mount Pleasant